MASK: Legacy Saga Interludes: Cross-Turns and Other Traffic
by Darster
Summary: Redemption has led to ruin for at least one MASK agent. Can a country boy soldier help a Lone Ranger come to terms with her complicated relationships so she can move on with her life? (Tag Fiction to Legacy Saga 4: Redemption)
1. Chapter 1

MASK: Legacy Saga Interludes: Cross-Turns and Other Traffic

Redemption has led to ruin for at least one MASK agent. Can a country boy soldier help a Lone Ranger come to terms with her complicated relationships so she can move on with her life? (Tag Fiction to Legacy Saga 4: Redemption)

Author's Notes: This story is a dream come true for me. "Into Your Tent I will Silently Creep" is one of my favorite G.I. Joe episodes as it highlights my favorite redneck, Cross Country, and I couldn't be happier that co-writer Lisa L. has agreed let me cross him over with our MASK Legacy Saga. Of course I couldn't resist turning him into a love interest for my Annie and a foil for our beloved Scott Trakker.

Watch for "Into your Tent" episode references throughout these chapters. Please also remember we're playing in the G.I. Joe Sunbow cartoon continuity, so there may need to be some willing suspension of disbelief on some things.

Special thanks to long term reviewer dshortklutz for being such an Annie fan. Thanks to everyone else for reading and reviewing all our previous fics.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but Annie Turner. Everything else is copyright by whoever owns it.

** Chapter 1 **

Five of her favorite Brad Turner CDs were playing on random in her multi-disk changer as her warm moccasins tapped a comforting flop-flop-flop sound on the tile floor of the kitchen in her Lake Tahoe apartment. She bustled back and forth and to and fro, dressed casually in a pair of fleece workout pants and one of her favorite oversized sweatshirts. She had pulled her red hair back into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck to keep it out of the way of the baking binge she'd embarked on earlier this morning. Grandma Turner would be rolling over in her grave if her granddaughter had been caught getting hair into any of her cooking. Several sharp raps with a rolling pin at a young age had taught her better than that.

Annie dropped the last unbaked cookie dough balls onto a sheet and smiled wistfully at the memories of spending time in Grandma Turner's kitchen. Cooking and baking are a lot like life, she and Grandpa would say. Mix it up with the right ingredients and everything will always turn out fine. It was times like this where Annie really missed their down home advice. She sighed deeply and slid the now full cookie sheet into the oven. _Where did the recipe of my life go so wrong? Oh, right...when someone added the bat-shit crazy nut into the mixture... _

That prompted Annie to remember another cooking related life lesson, this one from the kitchen of Dusty Hayes. They had been baking cookies, much as she was now, but the batch somehow didn't turn out quite as good as all their others. She and Dusty had racked their brains to determine what they had done differently but couldn't find the culprit. Finally Dusty just shrugged in his country manner: _Darlin', sometimes you can use the same ingredients in the same recipe, but somehow when you heat 'em up, it just don't turn out right._ The realization nearly brought her to tears. She and Scott had been that same old recipe until that one day when everything just got too hot and it wasn't right anymore. Dusty had then gone on to say that the reverse could also be true. _Sometimes there's that little bit of somethin' that you change or that mystery ingredient that ya add that makes the recipe even better than it was before. And that can mean that ya might have to make the choice to discard somethin' that's worked for years._

Annie sat down at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands as the oven counted down the last few minutes of cook time. She had done almost exactly that until Scott blindsided her with that crazy stupid godforsaken rescue mission. She had been several hours and one signature away from formally joining G.I. Joe and likely taking MASK's fill in country boy redneck mechanic with her. Cross Country had been that unexpected ingredient that had spiced up her life and shaken it up even more than it already was. He had turned it into...well, she didn't know what...except sometimes it felt better than what it had been previously with Scott. And now that she and Scott weren't together, she still didn't know exactly what she was going to do about him. _Damn you Robert Blais. Damn you for walking into my life and being everything I have ever fantasized about. Damn you for making me question everything I ever thought I wanted in a relationship. Damn you for ... just...being...you..._

Annie opened the oven door and pulled the last sheet of cookies out to cool. At the same time, someone knocked and then opened the door to the apartment.

"Annie?" called out a familiar voice.

"In the kitchen."

She turned to see two dark haired men walking through the entryway: one blue eyed and obviously younger wearing a High Mountain Rangers jacket and traditional black pants; the other brown-eyed and older, wearing his usual denim jacket complete with Confederate Flag. Annie's eyes flicked between both of them, then came to rest with a definite "what the hell" look on Ranger Cody Hawkes.

Robert Blais-Cross Country-spoke up first. "Hoo...smells like Aunt Hazel's kitchen in here. Back when she actually kept a decent one."

Cody walked over and gave Annie a kiss on the cheek and half a hug in order to reach around her and steal a cookie. "Someone has been spending their self imposed exile listening to her father's music and baking enough cookies for about thirty Christmases."

"And feelin' sorry for herself."

Annie glanced over at Cross Country while responding to Cody, who was trying not to smirk with his mouth full. "It's the last of my vacation."

"Not what I heard," Cross Country persisted.

Annie's eyes drilled into the bank of Cody's head as he gathered up a Ziploc bag full of cookies for the road. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear."

"That flush she's getting in her cheeks means she's getting irritated with something she doesn't want to hear," Cody said as an amused aside to Cross Country. "I especially love how her eyes light up when she's working up to a good rant, which will be to tell me how she hates being discussed in the third person, quickly followed by 'what is he doing here?'."

Annie glared at him. "You..."

"...are leaving," Cody finished Annie's sentence with a wicked grin and headed for the door. "Thanks for the cookies."

"Wait!"

Cross Country stopped her with a gentle hand on her chest as the door closed. "Why do you insist on bein' so thick headed? If you wanna know why I'm here, just ask me."

Annie made a show of putting all the cookies away. "Do you want some coffee? I can make a fresh pot."

He leaned into the kitchen entryway. "I'm more concerned with why the hell you're trying to avoid me, which is pretty damned nervy while I'm standin' right here in front of you."

"I'm..."

"I don't have a lot of patience for games, Annie, so I really hope the next words out of your mouth are gonna be 'I'm avoiding you because...' . 'Cause if you can't be honest with me, there's no point in continuin' this conversation."

"I..." He kept a steady gaze on her. "...I used you to make Scott jealous," she finally managed to spit out, "and I'm...not sorry it happened. I'm sorry that you could get hurt because of it."

"Was a little good ol' fashioned honesty so hard for you?"

The rest of the words came pouring out in a torrential flood. "I knew you were trouble for me the minute you walked into Boulderhill. So I did what I always do and deflected everything, laughed, kept it light...did everything I could to keep us to a friendly but working relationship. The worse it got with Scott, the easier it was to turn to you...then you buy me dinner...then I kiss you...then I'm going to run away to join the Army...then everything does a 360...and then I run home to Tahoe like always except they know me better than me and know I need time for me but then how am I supposed to know what I want when I won't even be honest with me and then you come in here like gangbusters to force the issue and it's even more confusing and I just want to..."

Cross Country took one large step into the kitchen, picked Annie up into his arms, and shut her up with a hard, passionate kiss. Whatever stream of consciousness she'd been on disappeared as she wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into him. She felt the darker side of her personality unlocking itself from the cage she kept it in, reminding her that she and Scott Trakker were no longer a couple and that there'd be nothing wrong with having a little Cross Country romp in the hay. The desire was almost too much to overcome...

He broke it off first, still holding her tightly in his broad shouldered embrace. "Had to test that out. You're right. Gets more confusin' every time."

"Being near you is like being on the newest exotic fantasy drug. While on it, my inhibitions go down and I'm higher than a kite without a care in the world. When you're gone, it feels like the worst downer ever. Sometimes I hate how I feel but in the next moment I'm wondering how I'm going to get more."

He chuckled. "That bad, huh?"

"Robert, I'm serious. What are we going to do about us?"

"I dunno." He had an odd look in his eyes. "You got anything you wanna tell me?"

"Grandma Turner taught me how to country fry a mean steak." Annie smiled wickedly. "Talk about it over dinner?"

"This don't let you off the hook. Not by a long shot, woman."

"Oh, but you haven't tasted my cooking yet."


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much to Susan and Miratete for the kind reviews. I must give credit for some of that perfectly polished piece to my co-writer and awesome proofreader Lisa L. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Still don't own anyone but Annie. :)

** -Several Hours Earlier at Boulderhill Garage- **

His father drove a bulldozer for years. His mother drove a grader. Cross Country felt at home amongst machinery. Over the years, he'd become famous for tricking out the vehicles in the G.I. Joe motor pool, most notably his own HAVOC. He'd gotten a ton of ribbing by putting a cassette deck into his HAVOC when he had first joined G.I. Joe and it had continued non-stop...at least until the "incident" where two of them got stolen. Oh, he'd had the last laugh at the end of that mission...and hadn't heard anything about his vehicle upgrades since.

Today he was spending the better part of a slow day at Boulderhill by giving the MASK vehicles some of that special TLC he'd picked up as one of G.I. Joe's grease monkeys. Surprisingly, he'd chosen to start with Thunderhawk, picking all the little 'not important now, get to those later' things to do until she gleamed the beautiful bright cherry red she was meant to be. Then he'd given Phoenix the same treatment. The chrome on Annie's bike glistened like shimmery silver stars against shiny black onyx. He'd even replaced the flaming racing stripes, positioning them so that it looked as though they were actually moving on the stationary motorcycle. He could only imagine how they'd look when she actually drove it. Cross Country circled the motorcycle a few more times scanning for imperfections in his handiwork, then stepped back to look at the finished product.

"I don't believe that bike has looked this good since Buddy and I first rolled it out of the garage." Brad Turner sidled up beside him and leaned on his cane. "Any particular reason you chose to work on Thunderhawk and Phoenix?"

Cross Country shrugged. "Never hurts to stay in the boss' good graces."

"Which one?"

"Somethin' I can do for ya, Brad?" Cross Country asked politely.

"Yeah. You can quit wasting your time here and go up to Lake Tahoe to kick Annie's head out of her ass."

Cross Country nearly choked, "I don't think that's such a hot idea."

"Don't worry about Scott," Brad reassured him. "Young Master Trakker and I have gone toe to toe on several occasions. I can handle him. I need you to handle Annie. You somehow manage to get her to actually listen to you when you're trying to beat her over the head with something."

Cross Country's subconscious poked him in the back of the neck, reminding him that tinkering with Thunderhawk and Phoenix was just a diversion from thinking too hard about Annie. Part of him was pissed enough to let her act like a prima donna spoiled brat and rot up in Lake Tahoe for all he cared. But the better part of him needed to confront his feelings for her, or as Brad had not so tactfully put it, beat her over the head with them. And yet, even though it was her Daddy asking or perhaps because of it, he still felt the need to stall.

"As I recall, Annie don't like you meddling in her personal affairs." Not sure I like it much either.

"She never has. And I've never let it stop me on the important things. The only reason it tends to piss her off is because my meddling usually ends up with me being right."

** - Present. Lake Tahoe, Nevada. - **

Cross Country knew by the pile of cookies in Annie's kitchen that Brad had been right. No matter how she tried to hide it, she was still a neurotic basket case. He'd seen enough cooking related binges growing up in the Carolinas with his mother and Aunt Hazel to know a coping mechanism when he saw one. Okay, so maybe most of them were all those frequent church socials and bake sales, but that was beside the point.

Annie, however, had been right too. The girl could country fry a mean steak. And home fries. And the green beans were just the right consistency and smothered in just the right amount of butter... And I'll be damned if she didn't almost make me forget why I come up here.

"I'm on to you, woman!" Cross Country called out as he propped his feet up on Annie's coffee table and leaned back into her couch.

"Hmmmm?" came the innocent, questioning reply from the kitchen.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Annie stacking the last of the dirty dishes into her dishwasher and then turning it on to run. Nothing in her expression betrayed that she was deliberately misunderstanding him. He decided to try another tactic in the hopes that playing part of the game would make her open up.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I ended up chasin' mutant pack rats through a sewer?"

"This sounds like a drinking story."

He heard two bottle caps popping and looked over to see Annie padding into the living room with two newly opened bottles of beer. She handed him one and sat down beside him on the couch with the other.

"I have a full case if you want more."

"Me bein' drunk off your womanly charms isn't enough? You gotta bring alcohol into it too?"

"Maybe *I* want to get wicked stupid drunk and just need a drinking partner." She grinned evilly when he had no response to that. "Okay, so...mutant pack rats?"

Annie shifted to one side to face Cross Country, propping her head up on the back of the couch with a crooked elbow. She absently tucked one foot under the opposite leg and stared at him attentively, holding her beer in the opposite hand.

Cross Country took a swig of his own beer and set the scene. "All right. Now this was back when I first joined G.I. Joe and was a bit of a greenhorn. I was takin' a lot of ribbin' for the tape deck I put in the HAVOC so I could listen to my tunes in battle."

"I heard about that when I went to the Pit."

"Well, one night I was changin' it out cause of some wear and tear on the old one and the new one comes up missin'. Lot of other Joe's stuff was comin' up missin' too. So I get another one the next night, and that one gets stolen. So first thing the following mornin' I bust into the mess hall and start accusin' my tormentors." He started chuckling at the old memory. "Jaye called me out for bein' a jerk on that one."

Annie snickered and sipped her beer. "Jaye would. Go on."

"So, I laid a trap for my little kleptomaniac and set a tape deck out in the motor pool and then hid. Sure enough, the little rat comes and takes it and the chase is on."

"You're saying this was an actual pack rat...stealing your stuff? We're going to need more beer."

Annie got up and walked into the kitchen, coming back to the living room with the entire case and plunking it down in front of them. She tossed the bottle opener onto her coffee table. "Continue."

"We found out later the proper name was Rattillos." Cross Country popped the top off two more bottles and handed Annie one. "Now mind you, I went AWOL to chase this thing down. After the sewer it was a river leading up to a mountain pass. Come ta find out it was a COBRA hideout where Cobra Commander had slaves diggin' up gold to fund another of his cockamamie schemes. And Destro had created the Ratillos to steal G.I. Joe Intel, but all they ended up with was a pile of everyday electronics. And Mainframe and Dial Tone's computer game-which is what tipped off the General that somethin' was up. Good thing too, or I might not have gotten rescued from all that nonsense."

Annie took another drink. "Did you get in trouble?"

"Oh the General was mighty unimpressed when he first found out a computer file was gone and so was I. The only reason he didn't bust me for bein' AWOL was because of the COBRA plot we uncovered. I do seem to remember bein' on KP duty for a good long while afterward though."

Annie laughed aloud, tossing her hair back in an unconsciously cute gesture. "Definitely a good drinking story."

"The moral to that story is that sometimes you can do what at first sight looks like the wrong thing, but it ends up being all right." He finished the story and the last swig of his beer with a pointed glance at Annie. "Now, you got anything you wanna tell me?"


	3. Chapter 3

MASK: Legacy Saga Interludes: Cross Turns and Other Traffic

Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Thanks to Susan, Miratete, and Zarius for the wonderful reviews. Thanks for your support while I play!

Some references to our earlier Daddy's Girls fic in this one. Please keep reading and reviewing. Annie's mine-everything else is theirs.

** One Week Earlier-Turner Residence **

"Do you have anything you want to tell me?"

"Like what?"

Brad Turner sighed and wondered, not for the first time, why his daughter was so obtuse. "I've been to the mansion, Annie."

For the second time in as many days, Annie Turner closed the hatch of her Jeep and turned to confront another of the men in her life. "Dad, you're meddling again."

Brad leaned stoically against Annie's driver's side door. "That's what happens when I can't get anything out of you after you've pulled a disappearing act."

Annie sighed deeply and raggedly. "I didn't want to get you involved. I still don't."

** Present - Lake Tahoe, Nevada **

"Did my Dad put you up to this?"

Annie heard just a hint of a drunken slur in her own voice as she watched the empty beer bottles pile up on the coffee table. She'd lost count of how many she'd already had, which didn't stop her from opening another one as she waited for Cross Country to answer.

"Your Daddy only suggested it. So it was either come up here and talk to you, or shine bolts for the rest of the afternoon. I took the most pleasant option. But we ain't talkin' about me or your Daddy, we're talkin' about you. Now, you got somethin' to tell me or not?"

Cross Country tilted his head toward Annie in an attentive manner as he threw his right arm over the back of the couch. She accepted his non-verbal invitation and scooted over to rest her head gently on his right shoulder as she bent her legs and folded them onto the middle cushion. She carefully cradled her open beer as his open arm fell down over her shoulder.

"My story doesn't have a happy ending."

"Most don't."

"It's long."

"I got time."

"It's complicated to explain."

"I'm listenin'."

"It's..."

"Annie, stop stallin' and just spit it out, would ya?"

"Awwright..." Annie took a large gulp of beer and found it half gone. "Scott...blindsided me when I went to tell him I was done with MASK. 'We're through, I'm joining G.I. Joe' turned into 'I've found Roxy, I'm going to get her, are you coming or not?'."

She paused for a moment but no reaction came. She peered up at Cross Country to find him calmly sipping his beer. She decided to just keep talking and drained the last of her own brew, hoping it contained the words and liquid courage she didn't currently possess.

"He would have gone alone-I could see it in his eyes. I also knew right then and there that he'd come back dead or not at all if I didn't go with him. There was no question in my mind. Next thing I know he's in Thunderhawk and I'm following him on Phoenix."

The clang of empty beer bottles resounded through the silence that had fallen. Cross Country had only set down his empty, yet Annie immediately sensed the change in his body language.

"What you just told me," Cross Country emphasized slowly, which was not completely from the alcohol, "is that Falcon was right and you were lyin' through your teeth."

"Yeah," Annie said softly. The liquid courage was turning to ice in her veins. "I was."

"Why the hell would you do somethin' so incredibly stupid?" Cross Country questioned in a distinctly drunken country accent.

"I've been asking myself that same question for a week," Annie slurred back from the vicinity of his shoulder. "I told you it was complicated."

"I ain't so drunk I can't listen," Cross Country retorted. "How 'bout you try me?"

Silence reigned for a moment as Annie considered her words. "I was ready to turn Roxanne in...until I realized that she was a victim in this entire cat and mouse game. When I looked at her and thought about all the things she did, I saw the person I could've been if the tables had been turned."

"Whaddya mean?" Cross Country looked genuinely puzzled.

Annie froze up as her drunken memory conjured up visions of Mexico from so long ago.

_** Contraworld Base-Mexico-about ten years ago **_

_"Annie?"_

_Jess started to get up to comfort her long time friend and make sure she was okay, but Buddy held a restraining arm out as he got a good look at Annie's pale features and haunted eyes. Whatever had happened had scared her to death; she was white as a sheet, and he wasn't going to risk Jess or Roxy upsetting a very delicate balance._

_Satisfied Jess was going to stay where she was, Buddy got up and started walking toward her, asking gently, "Annie, what happened?"_

_Annie backed up against the cell door and stared at him like he was the devil incarnate. "You knew…didn't you? You knew…" she accused shakily as she started to cry._

_"Annie…" Buddy kept his voice even and soft as he reached for her hand, "What did they tell you?"_

_"That I…" Her tears fell harder as she looked into his concerned brown eyes, "…that I should've…" She couldn't look him in the eye any longer, so she let her eyes drift to Jess sitting in the corner looking as frightened as she felt. She felt the room start to spin when her eyes locked onto Roxanne sitting in the other corner, and the revelation of what might have been hit her fully. "…I could have been you…" Annie muttered to Roxanne before her legs gave out completely and the room went dark._

_Buddy managed to catch her just before her head hit the ground. He fell to his knees with Annie hanging limply in his arms and pushed her hair out of her eyes. He knew she couldn't hear him, but he felt the need to say anyway, "I'm not going to let that happen."_

_** Present-Lake Tahoe **_

"Annie?" Cross Country prodded again.

She started to shiver against him as the old feelings redoubled back to her, worsened by her drunken state. "If Vanessa hadn't left me with my father when I was a baby, I would have grown up as an agent of Contraworld. If things had worked out like they should have, G.I. Joe would be hunting ***me*** down...not Roxanne Trakker."

Cross Country's mouth dropped open as the final puzzle piece fit itself into their story. He looked over at Annie shuddering beside him and pulled her into his arms while she scrunched herself as close to him as she could. Her head ended up resting in his lap as he smoothed her hair away from her face.

"To this day I can still remember the fear of facing down Miles Mayhem."

_"The only mistake you made," Mayhem continued angrily through Vanessa's internal thought process, "was trying to hide this from me! You know the rules as well as I do…your daughter should have been a member of ContraWorld, just like my son and my nephew."_

Uncontrollable tears started running down Annie's cheeks. "When I think about what could have happened to me...I couldn't let that happen to someone else...and I've..." she choked up drunkenly, "...I've destroyed my own life because of it."

"Aw hell Annie..." Cross Country muttered quietly.

He didn't have the words. There weren't any. The only thing left of the conversation were Annie's broken sobs as she trembled in his lap and finally let out all her pent up angst. When the worst of it seemed to be over, Cross Country scooped Annie up and walked down the hall to her bedroom. He shoved the door wide open with his foot and walked inside, setting Annie down and supporting her with one arm while pulling the blankets of her bed back with the other.

"Come on darlin'...it's late and you're drunk. Time for bed."

Annie didn't argue or resist him when he gave her a gentle push. She slid right under the covers of the double bed and tugged on Cross Country's arm for him to follow. He pondered what to do for all of ten seconds, then climbed in beside her to spoon. She locked her arm around the one he'd slipped across her waist and passed out almost immediately.

"All right doll, just for a little bit..." he yawned, "then I'm gettin' up..."


	4. Chapter 4

MASK: Legacy Saga Interludes: Cross Turns and Other Traffic

Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Thank you again to my reviewers Susan, Zarius, Miratete, and dshortklutz. You guys make the writing worthwhile. And special review thanks to co-author Lisa L for keeping the story focused and not dragged out. She's a big reason the story is so enjoyable. :)

We're almost to the end. I own Annie-everybody else owns everyone else-I'm just using them for my own nefarious purposes. Bwahahaha!

Ch 4:

Robert Blais opened his eyes and immediately saw red, as in Annie's hair splayed all over the pillows while she slept soundly curled up against him, still clutching his arm around her waist. The numbers of her digital alarm clock burned a steady 10:00 AM into his mildly hung over retinas, reminding him he should have been back in the garage hours ago.

"Shit!" Cross Country cursed quietly.

He gingerly extracted his arm from Annie's grasp, careful not to wake her up as he climbed out of bed. He thanked his lucky stars that things hadn't gone too far or else he'd probably be scrambling to find his clothes right now. The thought of that didn't bother him on one hand, but the other hand said it might be a better idea to remove himself from the situation before anything else happened. He took one last look at the sleeping girl on the bed before heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked her parched, dryly cracked voice.

_Busted. Damn._ "It's late darlin'. I gotta go."

Cross Country heard Annie sit up. "Dad's covering for you, isn't he?"

"That ain't the point."

"I know. But you're already late...the damage is already done." Suddenly she was standing in the doorway beside him. "Look, Robert, I wasn't so drunk that I didn't know what I was telling you last night. I know it put you in a bad position, but don't go running off already. At the very least stay for a cup of coffee...please?"

_No wonder every guy you know ends up twisted around your little finger._ "One cup. That's it."

"Done!"

While Annie brewed the coffee, Cross Country bagged up the empty beer bottles that represented the aftermath of their semi-drunken binge. Ten minutes later, he and Annie were sitting at her kitchen table, dunking cookies while they sipped their brew.

"These are good," Cross Country saluted with his half eaten cookie.

"Hungover breakfast of champions," Annie saluted back as she took a bite of her own.

He finished his treat with a chuckle, then took a sip of coffee, musing, "You know Annie, there may still be a way to fix this thing with G.I. Joe."

Aside from a dullness in her usually bright green eyes, Annie didn't seem any worse for wear. She seemed alert and genuinely interested in what he had to say.

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, you skip over Falcon, Beach-Head, Duke, and Flint and go straight to the top."

"General Hawk?"

Cross Country nodded. "He's a good man. He'll give you a fair shake. Hell, he gave Falcon a second chance...thanks more to Duke than anything...but I digress. My point is you ain't gonna have any trouble gettin' him to listen to ya."

"What do you recommend I tell him?"

"The truth, just like you told me last night."

He could see Annie's faith in his suggestion wavering. "And how is anything I say going to compare to the dossier of crimes against Roxanne especially when I originally lied about her whereabouts? How am I supposed to convince him that Roxanne is a victim when it's so well documented how much I hate her?"

"You don't need me to answer that."

Annie's finger trailed idly along the lip of her coffee mug as she considered the possibilities. "I'd brought up the idea of having Lifeline do a medical examination on Roxanne to prove she wasn't in her right mind. Scott shot me down."

"Don't recall Scott bein' part of this conversation."

Annie's head jerked up at Cross Country's sharp tone. "I have to consider-"

"No, you don't," he re-emphasized sharply. "All you gotta consider is what's best for you."

"I thought you understood-"

Cross Country got up from the kitchen table and stalked out to the living room to pull on his cowboy boots. "Obviously we're done here."

"Robert, wait-"

He stood up to his full height and turned to confront Annie. "No. No more feminine wiles, distractin' dinners, drunk binges, and mornin' after regrets...just you, me, and the truth." Cross Country didn't even stop for a breath. "The reason people get so pissed at you is 'cause you will not get your act together and think about yourself for a change!"

Annie blinked in surprise, taken aback by the completely hostile reaction. "I-"

"You know what else pisses them off? When you climb up on that high horse of yours and completely turn the situation around! Like right now-I'll lay ten to one odds you think I'm guilt trippin' you into makin' that call to General Hawk when all I'm tryin' to do is beat some sense into you!"

The reaction on Annie's face told Cross Country everything he needed to know. He waited for the protest he was sure was coming, but she surprised him by saying nothing.

"Shot you right down out of that saddle, didn't I?"

She nodded affirmation, wetness shining in her eyes.

"And I highly doubt anybody's put it out there so blunt before..."

Annie shook her head no, they hadn't. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Well," Cross Country drawled, "the fact that you've shut up and seem to actually be payin' attention means there might still be some hope for you after all." Annie looked at him hopefully. "But you have GOT to take stock and make some hard decisions about where you wanna go in life, because there isn't going to be any 'us' until there is some 'you'."

She nodded again, wiping the tears away as she disappeared momentarily, returning from the kitchen with a bag of cookies, offering it to Cross Country.

"I'll never eat them all."

In spite of himself, he smiled. "Peace offerin' accepted."

"Are you going to...?"

"Not my story to tell."

"Are we still friends?"

"You're making it very hard to not want to be." Cross Country leaned in to give her one final kiss on the cheek before he left. "Please don't let this bite you in the ass more than it already has."

And with that, he was gone.


	5. Epilogue

MASK: Legacy Saga Interludes: Cross Turns and Other Traffic

Epilogue

Author's Notes: Once again, thank you awesome reviewers. So glad you've enjoyed the story and taken the time to leave your comments.

I can't thank co-writer Lisa L. enough for being my muse and keeping me on track. Look for more drama in Legacy Saga 5...coming soon!

Disclaimers: I do not own anyone but my Annie Turner. The lyrics to Sons of the Desert 's "Whatever Comes First" and Michael Martin Murphey's "Jack of Diamonds" are owned by them and their respective songwriters and used here only to forward plot. :)

Oh, and the idea for Jim Cutler secretly being a romance writer belongs to author Vinsmouse. You can read her High Mountain Rangers story "Romance and Rangers" in the TV shows section. :)

Annie hadn't been standing in the Ranger Station with her gear more than five minutes before they started.

"Sooooooo...tall, dark, and mysteriously Southern..." Jim Cutler had his elbows propped up on the front counter, nearly falling over it in his quest for gossip, "...tell me more."

"Slow news day or something?"

"Oh come on Annie!" Cutler exclaimed. "Good ol' boy shows up just after you've broken it off with the billionaire playboy and we're not supposed to be curious? Romance writers pay good money for this stuff! This story is begging to be told!"

"Oh, I've got a story begging to be told," Annie retorted, transfixing Cutler with a feigned smile. "How about: 'High Mountain Ranger secretly bestselling Romance Author. Enjoys being in touch with feminine side. News at 11.' ?"

Cutler's face dropped into a look of shock. "You wouldn't!"

"Yeah, she would," argued Tim Hart behind the newspaper he was reading. "And she's got the connections to do it."

"At least tell me if he had something to do with the baking binge you went on," Cutler continued, eyeing the multiple trays of cookies Annie was carrying.

"Keep digging, Jim," Hart said as he folded up the paper and set it down on the desk. "I'll be sure to have Matt use that same shovel to bury you...and your sense of chivalry."

Hart emphasized the last bit by taking the cookies from Annie and walking them into the kitchen. Cutler looked like he was about to make a retort to Hart's retreating back, but the ringing phone distracted him from any sort of response. Annie quickly snagged the opportunity to retreat up to the rooms the Rangers used for their sleeping quarters.

Annie tossed her duffel bag into the corner and stretched, happy to finally be home again. Her eyes stopped on a picture resting on the night stand next to the bed-her and Brad right after he'd taught her to climb Dead Drop Wall, one of the most notorious and dangerous rock climbs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They had just finished the climb when Cody snapped the windblown cameo shot of them smiling and hugging each other. It was one of Annie's personal favorites.

She started to empty her jacket pockets onto the stand when her fingers unconsciously clenched around the small Swiss Army Knife she always carried on her Ranger missions. It was a one of a kind custom made gift from Scott, engraved with the Queen of Spades-the "Ranger Playing Card" Cody had given her to go along with his Ace of Spades nickname. The other side was engraved with the Jack of Diamonds-the "Playing Card" Cody had given Scott to christen his status as an honorary Ranger. Annie flipped the knife back and forth in her hand, remembering why Cody had picked those two cards. The Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades were a point earning "marriage" in the card game Pinochle. She watched the Jack and Queen spin about the knife in her hand, realizing that marriage to Scott may never be a reality for her...

* * *

"Daggumit!"

In a fit of frustration, Cross Country shoved his paperwork and his chair away from his desk at Boulderhill Garage, standing up to stretch and momentarily pace around the office. After a few moments, he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat back down.

"I'm gettin' too old to be moonin' over girls," he mused aloud.

Every little thing that he had done since returning from Lake Tahoe had reminded him of her. Even the paperwork was conspiring against him. He happened to be holding the bill for the work he'd done on Phoenix the other day. Just over $1500.00 of mental distress that he was definitely going to make sure Annie Turner paid for.

_Somebody's leavin' I don't care who  
But there's not enough room in my mind for two  
It's finally come down to me or you_

"Gahhhh!" Cross Country slammed Annie's bill down, leaping up out of the chair to snap off the country song playing on the radio. "It's a god damned conspiracy!"

"You know if you play that backwards, you get all your stuff back."

Cross Country glared over at Brad Turner leaning in the office doorway. "Can't get back somethin' ya never had."

Brad walked in and sat down in an empty chair on the other side of the desk. "How hard did you try?"

Cross Country snorted indelicately and sat back down, "My influence isn't what you think it is."

"Really?"

"That girl's hell bent on makin' herself miserable. I can't help someone who ain't gonna help themselves."

"Have you heard from her since you've been back?"

"Nope." Ten kinds of emotion dripped from just one word.

"Me either," Brad sighed.

* * *

"Annie..."

Annie slipped out of her reverie and looked over to see team medic, fellow female ranger, sister, and mentor Robin Kelly standing in the doorway of her bedroom. "Hey Robin. Come on in."

Robin shut the door behind her and sat down on the edge of Annie's bed, which emphasized that she didn't want them to be interrupted. "Your dad called me a little while ago. He's worried about you."

Annie sat down beside her. "I know. He sent the message with Robert. I've just had my ass handed to me by 6 feet and about 250 pounds of pure Southern Redneck."

"And you're smiling," Robin noted immediately. "I haven't seen that particular look on your face in a long time."

Annie sighed dreamily through her crooked smile and stretched out on the bed. "I can't even work up the energy to be indignant at him. *That's* the effect he's been having on me these past few months." She remembered the jittery feeling in the pit of her stomach when Cross Country first walked into the garage. "Why did we have to get a replacement mechanic who saunters in right from my fantasy world with a sweet Southern 'Howdy ma'am, pleased ta meet ya' ?!"

Robin stretched out beside Annie, resting her elbow on a pillow and propping her head up. "If you've broken up with Scott, why does that bother you so much?"

Annie tried not to wince at the mention of Scott's name, "Because..." She couldn't find the words to express it, "...it's complicated, Robin."

"What you're going through is perfectly natural, Annie. You're just making it hard...as usual."

"That's pretty much what Robert said," Annie admitted, rolling over onto her side to clutch one of her throw pillows, suddenly wanting to be alone again.

Robin could sense the change in Annie's demeanor and stood up, giving the younger girl a kiss on her forehead. "All any of us want is for you to think about yourself for a change and do what makes you happy."

"I know."

"Call your father," Robin said pointedly, smoothing Annie's hair back comfortingly before she left. "It only gets worse the longer you avoid him."

* * *

"Wouldn't hold your breath, Brad," Cross Country said, sipping his coffee. "She's comin' damn close to out-stubborning me, which is no small feat."

"She gets that from both sides."

Cross Country arched an eyebrow. "Kinda like that deadly charm?"

"That too," Brad chuckled. "Never been able to figure out if she thinks it's a blessing or curse."

_Blessing or curse  
I'll take whatever comes first_

Brad's cell phone began to ring before Cross Country could respond. He looked down at the caller ID and smirked. "Speak of the devil..."

"Hell must be gettin' pretty frosty about now." Cross Country handed Brad the bill for Phoenix's parts and headed out to the garage proper. "You make damn sure *SHE* pays that."

"Hi Pumpkin," Brad answered the phone casually.

"Hey Dad."

"I've got a $1500.00 bill here for parts and labor on Phoenix that our mechanic needs you to pay."

"He's not going to add on for pain and suffering is he?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

The other end of the line held only silence.

"Annie," Brad tried again, "you took off in a pretty big hurry. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah Dad, I'll be fine," Her voice sounded tired and slightly exasperated. "I just needed to get out of there and come back here to recharge."

"Look, pumpkin-I don't care if your career is with the Rangers or MASK, or who you hook up with-whether it's Cody Hawkes, Scott Trakker, or Robert Blais-I just want you to be happy." Brad waited a moment, then added, "I'm drawing the line at Vincent Falcone."

"Yeah, me too," Annie's laugh was the first genuine one in a while. "But seriously Dad, please don't worry. I'm going to talk to Matt tomorrow about getting in on some field work, maybe help Robin on her rounds...all the stuff I could never do before. Maybe go full time...I don't know just yet..."

"All right, Annie. Just one last thing..."

"What's that?"

"Don't get in the habit of making me go through other people to get to you."

* * *

_Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds  
I've known you of old  
You've robbed my poor pockets  
of silver and gold_

Annie sat Indian style at the head of her bed, Scott's knife in her lap, Jack of Diamonds facing up. Once again, she remembered the diamond ring she had forcefully and guiltily shoved back into Matt Trakker's hands in the hospital that awful night, knowing full well that event was the catalyst to all the problems that came afterward. Part of her knew she should cut her losses and free herself from the drama surrounding the Trakker family, yet her heart was holding back. It remembered that the good times outweighed the bad of the last couple years, and it remembered that she'd been with Scott since she'd been born. It remembered that he had always been there, through everything, no matter what...

"Enjoy your visit?"

Annie barely acknowledged Cody's taunt as he poked his head through the crack in her bedroom door. He immediately sensed she wasn't in the mood for teasing and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry. The door was open..."

"I know. I should have closed it."

Cody took a couple steps into the room. "Annie, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I-" She fought back the urge to cry. "-I just need to be alone I think. I have a call to make."

* * *

Cross Country just finished his end of night walkabout in Boulderhill Garage when his pocket started to ring. He pulled his phone out, glared at the caller ID suspiciously, then answered.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Is this a bad time?" Annie's voice asked.

"Just gettin' ready to lock up."

"I wanted to let you know I'd make the transfer for those parts tomorrow."

"That it?"

"No."

"What else then?"

"I was thinking about what you said this morning," Annie said tentatively.

"And?"

"I'm not going to make that call. I can't do it. I'm sorry."

"Well I'm sorry that you've decided to run away, make yourself miserable, and turn around 'n let them Ranger boys coddle you."

"That's not-"

"Look, Annie, I already told you I ain't playin' games," Cross Country spat bluntly. "You don't wanna make the call, that's fine. But you gotta live with the consequences of it. Don't toy with me and mess me about cause you got a guilty conscience."

"Robert-"

"Maybe I ain't makin' myself clear enough," he continued hotly, "I'm not givin' you what you want and validatin' yer decision and pretending everything's grand. You're makin' your bed, you lay in it. I'm lockin' up and goin' home."

The finality of Cross Country's statement was punctuated by the click of his disconnecting phone. Annie Turner looked down at the flashing "Call Ended" on her own phone and tossed it onto her nightstand, rolling into a ball in her bedsheets and crying herself to sleep.


End file.
